An interior of a vehicle, such as automobile, typically includes energy absorbers for absorbing kinetic energy from occupants of the vehicle during an impact of the vehicle. One or more of the energy absorbers may be passive and designed and built into the interior of the vehicle. One or more of the energy absorbers can be active and triggered when an impact is detected. The active energy absorber may be in communication with an actuator and an impact sensing system. The impact sensing system may include a plurality of sensors for sensing the impact and a controller in communication with the sensors and the actuator. The controller, based upon an impact sensed by the sensors, causes the actuator to be triggered to deploy the active energy absorber.
The vehicle may include energy absorbers to absorb energy from rear occupants, i.e., occupants seated behind a first row of seats, during impact. During a frontal impact, the rear occupants may move forward toward the front row of seats. However, the space in the interior of the vehicle is limited. As such, there remains an opportunity to design an energy absorber for rear occupants that fits within packaging constraints of the vehicle and may be cost effective to install and replace.